


Because I Knew You

by mlea7675



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24893386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlea7675/pseuds/mlea7675
Summary: Songfic describing the relationship between Josh and Donna in vignettes (slightly out of order). Song is “For Good” from the musical Wicked.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Because I Knew You

**Author's Note:**

> I had a sudden flash of inspiration, and I had to post this. This is something I’ve never done before-a songfic. I recently saw a video compilation of Josh and Donna set to the song “For Good” from the musical Wicked, and I thought the song complemented their relationship perfectly. So, here without further ado, is my attempt at a songfic, with lyrics from the songs accompanying vignettes of Josh’s and Donna’s relationship throughout the show. Dialogue from the show is credited to Aaron Sorkin, and song lyrics are credited to Stephen Schwartz, originally performed by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Hope you enjoy, please read and review!

BECAUSE I KNEW YOU:

 _I've heard it said_  
 _That people come into our lives for a reason_  
 _Bringing something we must learn_  
 _..._  
The first time he saw her, she was answering his phone like she had been doing it for years. “He has a media session, and then a 4:00 with finance.” Then, he did a double take. Who was this woman, and why was she answering his phone? After she hung up, he began to question her. It was obvious from the beginning that she was a little unsure of herself. When he learned that she had never graduated from college because her ex-boyfriend made her drop out, he actually started to feel sorry for her. Still, he had to protect the campaign.

“Donna, this is a campaign for the Presidency, and there’s nothing I take more seriously than that. This can’t be a place for people to find their confidence and start over.”

“Why not?” she had said. “Is it going to interfere with my typing?” He was taken aback. Maybe this woman was smarter than he thought.

Finally, she had looked at him, almost pleading with her eyes. “I think I can be good at this. I think you might find me valuable.”

And that was the moment, although he didn’t know it at the time, where he began to fall in love with her.  
...  
 _And we are led_  
 _To those who help us most to grow_  
...  
They were different than most of the other boss-assistant pairs on the campaign-and later in the White House. Different than CJ and Carol, different than Toby and Ginger, certainly different than Leo and Margaret. There was always something there. She helped him grow up.

She was the first to make him get his own coffee. The first time, he thought it was ludicrous. What assistant doesn’t bring their boss a cup of coffee? But he eventually learned to accept this, to the point where when she brought him a cup of coffee, he knew it was because he was about to be fired. He wasn’t, but he appreciated the gesture. He was pretty impressed that she had stood up to him, and told him not to get his hopes up with Harrison. He began to realize he had something very special in his assistant.  
...  
 _If we let them_  
 _And we help them in return_  
…  
Two years later, he had a chance to return the favor. He was angry, actually furious, that she had lied under oath in the deposition. Did she have any idea what kind of problems this exposed them to? But then, he realized that she was too valuable to lose now. So, perhaps against his own morals, he helped her. Since the two of them and Cliff were the only ones who knew she had lied, he decided to let Cliff read the diary and decide if anything should be subpoenaed. He sat next to her for an hour on a bench in a park while Cliff read it. And, perhaps against his better judgment, he reached over and put his arm around her, but not quite.

“It’s gonna be fine.”  
...  
 _Well, I don't know if I believe that's true_  
 _But I know I'm who I am today_  
 _Because I knew you_  
...  
He always sent her flowers in April, not February. It was one of his little quirks that he celebrated the day she came back to him, instead of the day she started working for him. And it was on that anniversary during the third year of the administration that she decided to set him straight.

He was actually shocked to hear that she had been in a car accident. She had been injured in a car accident? She listened as she told him about why she had left her ex, and that she was grateful he had taken her back without question. Then she said, “Yes, you are better than my old boyfriend.” The ex-boyfriend who had stopped for a beer on the way to the hospital. Who does that?, he thought.

He started walking away, adding that if she were in an accident, he would never stop for a beer.  
Then, she dropped the clincher: “If you were in an accident, I wouldn’t stop for red lights.”  
As she left, he realized they had come the closest they had in three years to admitting romantic feelings for one another. Even more so than that, they had admitted they had changed each others’ lives.  
...  
 _Like a comet pulled from orbit_  
 _As it passes a sun_  
 _Like a stream that meets a boulder_  
 _Halfway through the wood_  
…  
It had been a rough Inauguration for the two of them: filled with the excitement of beginning another term in office-and yet for one of them, it was fraught with peril. Luckily, he had a plan. As she sat in her apartment feeling sorry for herself, he gathered a half-dozen of his male co-workers, hailed a cab to her apartment, and began chucking snowballs at her windows. As soon as she came out, he talked to her aside from everyone else. He told her he knew the truth: that she had taken the blame for that quote and was covering for Jack. Finally, she admitted to the truth and agreed to come to the ball. Suddenly, she noticed him staring at her.

“You look amazing.” he told her. And he meant it.

Once again, it was the closest since that Christmas three years ago that they would come to admitting their feelings for one another.  
...  
 _Who can say if I've been changed for the better?_  
 _But because I knew you_  
 _I have been changed for good_  
...  
The moment the words “It’s critical.” left Toby’s mouth, she felt her entire world spinning. She sat down in a daze, and suddenly, she was faced with the terrifying prospect of losing him. And that might be more than she could take. It was the first time she was forced to confront her more-than platonic feelings for her boss. Hour upon hour, she sat there, unwilling to leave until he was out of surgery and stabilized.

Once he was out of surgery, she never left his side for more than a few hours at a time. Even when he came home, she was at his apartment every day. With her help, he got strong enough to come back to work.

But his recovery was not quite over yet. Donna worriedly began to notice certain things about his demeanor. Towards the beginning of December, she began to notice he was on edge. He was always on edge, but this was more than usual. He became engrossed-actually, obsessed would be a better word-with the biographical information of a pilot that gone on an suicide mission. Donna, at first, thought it was just that they had the same birthday, but it soon became clear it was more than that. And then there was the music. Donna kicked herself later for not reading more into the fact that he said “sirens” when he meant to say “music”.

When he came into work the morning after the Congressional Christmas party with his hand sloppily bandaged, she knew in her gut that there was something very wrong. She didn’t know what, but something was wrong. And she needed help.

She went to Leo. Leo went to ATVA. And three days later-Christmas Eve-she was taking him to the emergency room to have his hand properly stitched up.

Because that was what you did for a friend.  
...  
 _It well may be_  
 _That we will never meet again_  
 _In this lifetime_  
 _So let me say before we part_  
...  
He had flown to Germany for her. He had dropped everything as soon as Leo had told him he could. At first, she seemed OK. She was weak and in pain, but she was talking.

Then, he walked in after his meeting, only to discover an empty hospital room with bloodstained linens and tubes on the floor. After a tense few minutes, he learned that she had suffered a pulmonary embolism. She wanted to see him before she went under anesthesia.

He held her hand as she went under. He reassured her everything was going to be OK.

Because that was what you did for a friend.  
...

 _So much of me_  
 _Is made of what I learned from you_  
…  
She didn’t think it was anything at first. The filibuster kept dragging on and on, and Josh got more and more irritated that he would miss his early flight to Florida. Then, she noticed something curious. In each of the B-reels they were showing, they talked about Stackhouse’s seven grandchildren. But, with her keen observational skills, she noticed that there were only six kids in each shot. She went and told CJ, “I don’t think he’s just being ornery. I think he’s got a grandson who’s autistic.” CJ took it to the President, and they all ended up in the Oval Office. They were talking about how to give Stackhouse a little bit of dignity.  
Suddenly, the perfect idea occurred to her. So, she raised her hand in the Oval Office. When they noticed her, she told them her idea: “The Senator's allowed to yield for a question without yielding the floor.”

President Bartlet was impressed. “I was in the House. I knew nothing about Senate rules.”

“No sir, but Josh does, and he likes to explain things, and well, I let him.”

In the next hour, she watched in amazement as her idea was not only implemented, but worked. And it was all because of what she had learned from Josh.  
…  
 _You'll be with me_  
 _Like a handprint on my heart_  
 _And now whatever way our stories end_  
 _I know you have rewritten mine_  
 _By being my friend_  
...  
It was their first Christmas in the White House, and he was determined to get something special for her. She had been badgering him all week about getting skis, but when he saw the book on the field trip with the President and Leo, he knew she would like it. She would like that it had a rare cover. He inscribed it with some quick, heartfelt words: Donna-I know it seems like most of the time I take you for granted, and maybe I do. But I shouldn’t, because you are so much more than just my assistant. You’re my friend. You told me when I first met you that I might find you valuable. Well, you are. You changed my life, and I’m grateful for that every day. -Josh.

When he presented it to her, she read the inscription and immediately started to cry. He was professional on the outside, but moved on the inside. When she hugged him, he held her tight, and whispered “I meant it.”

That would have to be all for now. But at least they had met halfway.  
…  
 _Like a ship blown from its mooring_  
 _By a wind off the sea_  
 _Like a seed dropped by a skybird_  
 _In a distant wood_  
...  
By the reelection campaign, they had moved on from blindly longing for one another.

Cliff was first. He was a blind date for Donna, set up by Ainsley Hayes. It lasted two dates, before Cliff realized he needed to break it off because Donna worked for Bartlet-and he was part of the office prosecuting the MS trial.

Then, Josh met Amy, a lobbyist working for the Women's Leadership Council. They began to go out, and eventually, Amy was made the First Lady’s Chief of Staff. They stayed together for a year and a half, before Amy realized the extent of the feelings Donna harbored for Josh-and vice versa.

During all this, Donna met Jack, a Naval officer working for the White House. They dated for two months, before he was involuntarily transferred to Italy.

All of these relationships were good in the short-term, but they failed at their ultimate goal: making them forget about each other.  
...  
 _Who can say if I've been changed for the better?_  
 _But because I knew you:_  
 _Because I knew you:_  
 _I have been changed for good_  
 _..._  
After her pulmonary embolism, he sat by her side for hours. He barely noticed her mom, or Colin, the photographer she had met in Gaza. He wanted to be there when she woke up. He spent a lot of time talking on the phone, or talking to her, and just praying that she would be all right. That the doctors were wrong.

And when she woke up-asking for him, no less-he couldn’t have been happier. She was going to be OK. And they were going to get back to where they were before.  
...  
 _And just to clear the air_  
 _I ask forgiveness_  
 _For the things I've done you blame me for_  
 _..._  
And then, there was the day he would never forget. When she stood there in the bullpen seven months after she returned from Germany and told him she was quitting. They fought, of course, but he didn’t think she was serious.

It wasn’t until he returned from lunch, and found someone else working at her desk, that the truth hit him. She was gone. She was gone, and there was nothing he could say or do to bring her back.

The next months working on opposite campaigns were brutal. They had many awkward encounters over the primary season-but nothing would top what happened that August.

She showed at the Santos campaign looking for a job, and he turned her down. He spouted off her inflammatory Santos quotes from a paper-almost as if he had written them down so he could throw them back in her face later.

But that was nothing compared to what slipped out next: “And if you think I don’t miss you everyday.”

It was out, and he had said it. And when he saw the expression on her face, he wished he could take it back.

She ended the interview as cordially as she could and walked out, hoping Josh wouldn’t see her cry. He walked to the door and watched her leave, knowing full well that even though he wished he could take back what he said, there was a part of him that wanted her to hear it. That wanted her to hear how much he missed her.  
...  
 _But then, I guess we know_  
 _There's blame to share_  
...  
Lou hired Donna anyway. He had refused to hire her, and Lou went and hired her anyway. Suddenly, there she was, blasting Vinick on abortion. He went to Lou and laid into her.

Finally, Lou shut them in a room together and told them to work it out. What followed was Josh and Donna giving each other an earful: Josh telling her about loyalty (“You don’t go working for the other guy!”) and Donna finally telling him that he held her back (“I’m a short-order cook, and I’m still waiting for the spatula!”)

After that, he stopped fighting about Donna joining the campaign. Because the truth was, she was a valuable addition. And obviously, they both had things they needed to work out-separately or together, he wasn’t sure which.

But slowly but surely, they grew to be friends again. And to him, that was better than nothing  
...  
 _And none of it seems to matter anymore_  
...  
They kissed one morning three weeks before the election.

At first, it freaked them both out. Josh apologized to Donna and told her it was inappropriate. And right when Donna thought their relationship might be headed somewhere, he missed his opportunity.  
But the seeds had been planted, and in spite of what they both thought, there was no turning back. On Election Day, to absolutely no one’s surprise, they finally consummated their relationship. And something about it felt just right.  
...  
 _Like a comet pulled from orbit_  
 _As it passes a sun,_  
 _like a stream that meets a boulder, half-way through the wood_  
...  
Right after the election, between Leo’s death and the stress of the Transition, neither one of them was seeing much of each other. And they still had yet to define what they wanted their relationship to turn into.

Finally, one morning, Donna gave Josh an ultimatum. They had four weeks to decide what they meant to each other. Josh said nothing. And then, the next day out of the blue, he called her and invited her to go on vacation with him. To Hawaii, no less. Donna shocked even herself by immediately saying yes.

It was a long week, but it was absolutely worth it. They worked out their relationship issues, spent quality time together, and, most importantly, decided that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

They came back as a couple, and moved in together. Three weeks after the Inauguration, as they served side-by-side in the Santos Administration, he asked her to marry him.  
...  
 _Who can say if I've been changed for the better?_  
 _I do believe I have been changed for the better_  
…  
It was a beautiful June day, and Josh was getting ready for what he was sure would be the best day of his life so far. Today, he would marry the love of his life in a White House ballroom. He didn’t care where he was married, as long as he was married by the end of it.

Sam tied his bow tie for him and asked, “Are you ready?”

Josh replied, half to himself, “I’ve been ready for nine years.”

He watched, struck by her beauty, as Donna walked toward him in an elegant lace gown, escorted by her father. His groomsmen (Sam, President Santos, Bram, and Charlie) and Donna’s bridesmaids (Helen Santos, Annabeth, Ainsley, and CJ) all stole surreptitious glances at one another, grinning from ear to ear. But Josh could only keep his eyes on Donna as she joined him and President Bartlet at the altar.

“You look beautiful.” he told her, and like so many other things he said to her over the years, he meant it.

The ceremony flew by, and before Josh knew it, he and Donna were being pronounced husband and wife. As they faced the audience, Josh stole a glance at Donna, who was grinning. Yes, this had been well worth the nine-year wait. And there was no denying by anyone who had watched them over the years that Josh Lyman and Donna Moss had changed each other over the years-for good.  
...  
 _And because I knew you:_  
 _Because I knew you:_  
 _Because I knew you:_  
 _I have been changed for good._

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one-shot!


End file.
